The Efficacy of Full Mouth Erythritol Powder Air-Polishing Therapy (FM-EPAPT) Versus Traditional Ultrasonic Debridment (UD): a Randomized Controlled Study.

Traditional methods for plaque and calculus removal involve the use of mechanical and/or manual instruments, followed by surface polishing with rubber cups and low abrasive pastes. These instruments may cause the unintended removal of hard dental tissue, such as enamel, cementum and dentine, increasing surface roughness. Moreover, they can lead to gingival recession and consequent hypersensitivity and discomfort during treatment. New minimally-invasive approaches to biofilm removal have been recently introduced with the aim to limit the negative impact on the oral tissue. Air-polishing with low-abrasiveness powders are proven suitable for both for supra- and sub-gingival plaque removal. The use of low-abrasiveness powders could lead to several advantages, such as reduction of treatment discomfort, shorter treatment time, the possibility of cleaning areas with difficult access and minor damage on soft and hard tissues. Aim: the aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the Full Mouth Erithrytol Powder Air-Polishing Therapy compared to traditional ultrasonic debridment (UD) and polishing in patient affected by gingivitis. Test hypotesis: there is no difference in clinical outcome between two methods against the hypothesis of a difference in terms of changes in Blending on Probing (BOP). To test this hypothesis, the patients, upon initial evaluation, were treated in split mouth: * The control group undergoing the standard procedure with full-mouth ultrasonic debridement and polishing with rubber cup and abrasive paste. * The study group undergoing an innovative procedure involving full-mouth air-polishing followed by ultrasonic calculus removal. Follow-ups are scheduled at 2 weeks and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months.